The J. Paul Getty Museum

[Théodore] Rousseau

Object Details

Title:

[Théodore] Rousseau

Artist/Maker:

Nadar [Gaspard Félix Tournachon] (French, 1820 - 1910)

Culture:

French

Date:

1855–1859

Medium:

Salted paper print

Object Number:

84.XM.436.186

Dimensions:

25.9 × 20.3 cm (10 3/16 × 8 in.)

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Object Description

Pierre-Étienne-Théodore Rousseau was one of the leading artists of the Barbizon School, also called the plein-air (open air) landscape school of painters. Nadar much admired the Barbizon painters and their emphasis on nature, declaring that among them Rousseau "has long exhausted praise." Rousseau's melancholy landscapes displayed a wild and untamed view of nature, seemingly incongruous with the refined figure seen here.

Rousseau stands looking at the camera with a directness not evident in most of Nadar's portraits. The photographer conveys Rousseau's strong, intense character; only the unbuttoned second button on his overcoat suggests any lack of discipline on the part of this sitter.

Provenance
Provenance
-1984

Samuel Wagstaff, Jr., American, 1921 - 1987, sold to the J. Paul Getty Museum, 1984.

Exhibitions
Exhibitions
Photography Until Now (February 14 to August 19, 1990)
  • The Museum of Modern Art (New York), February 14 to May 29, 1990
  • The Cleveland Museum of Art (Cleveland), June 27 to August 19, 1990
Fame and Photography (March 9 to May 23, 1993)
  • The J. Paul Getty Museum (Malibu), March 9 to May 23, 1993
Nadar/Warhol: Paris/New York (July 20, 1999 to May 28, 2000)
  • The J. Paul Getty Museum at the Getty Center (Los Angeles), July 20 to October 10, 1999
  • The Andy Warhol Museum (Pittsburgh), November 6, 1999 to January 30, 2000
  • The Baltimore Museum of Art (Baltimore), March 12 to May 28, 2000
Bibliography
Bibliography

Baldwin, Gordon, and Judith Keller. Nadar Warhol: Paris New York: Photography and Fame. Introduction by Richard Brilliant. (Los Angeles: J. Paul Getty Museum, 1999), p. 91.

Hellman, Karen, ed. Real/Ideal: Photography in Mid-Nineteenth-Century France, exh. cat. (Los Angeles: J. Paul Getty Museum, 2016), pl. 83.